The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to a system and method for assaying an analyte in a fluid using beads, and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to a biochemical, biological or biomedical assay where the analyte adheres to the beads and is measured by fluorescence.
US published patent application 2007/0281311, to Roth et al, describes a system for measuring emission from microspheres or beads coupled to fluorescent dyes or tags, where the fluorescent dyes or tags indicate or are approximately proportional to a biological reaction. The beads are magnetic, and are immobilized by a magnet in an imaging volume, while they are being imaged by a CCD, many beads at a time. The system is compared to a prior art system using a flow cytometer, in which fluorescent particles are detected serially, one at a time, which is said to be described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,180 to Chandler et al.
US published patent application 2007/0064990 to Roth, describes methods of image processing for analyzing images of fluorescent particles, including methods of analyzing a first image of particles having a uniform concentration of fluorescence material, and a second image of particles having an unknown concentration of a fluorescence material.